We know that the White House and all members of Congress are watching the Massachusetts Senate race. But special interest groups from outside of Massachusetts also have a huge stake in the outcome of the election, and they are spending their money accordingly.

I did a lengthy article last week to put all of the outside spending in context, but here's a quick run-down of the independent expenditures (meaning spending by groups to influence the election that are not related to the candidates' campaigns nor the official party organizations) for the last seven days, as tracked by the Federal Election Commission.

A survey of last-minute spending by interest groups reveals which groups have a significant interest in the outcome, and which candidate could owe those groups something on the other side of election day.

The most fascinating development on the Republican side is the activism of the new Tea Party movement. The PAC of the Tea Party Express has not spent the most of any conservative group (check out the Chamber of Commerce's spending), but it is taking the movement past protests at town hall meetings and using its money for more than a dozen targeted outreach and communications efforts to help get Brown elected.

On the Democratic side, union money is pouring in for Coakley, with Service Employees International Union and a related 527 labor group pumping in more than $1 million as the race heated up last week. Also spending big for Coakley is the League of Conservation Voters and two pro-choice groups -- Planned Parenthood and EMILY's List.

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